


Mourning Habits

by GillO



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jossverse
Genre: Canon Temporary Character Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 11:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9894905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GillO/pseuds/GillO
Summary: What does a bereaved vampire do to show respect?





	

“Deep in earth my love is lying  
And I must weep alone.”

When Dawn wants to visit, he takes her. At night, obviously, so it’s quieter than ever. That’s OK. He strides around in a manly sort of way, letting the littl’un grieve, hugging her when it gets too much, standing aside when she needs to talk to the mound of earth.

He generally takes her back home before the witches even notice she’s gone, brushes off their thanks with a snarky remark and fades into the night whose creature he is.

By himself he only goes in the hours just before dawn, never entirely sure if he plans to remain till sunrise and beyond, giving himself a stern talking-to when all he wants to do is lie down and hug the damp soil till the light makes him one with it.

He doesn’t cry. Much. Some part of his Victorian conditioning makes him stop. Usually. Buckets of salt water could be shed for her and the sodding world has no idea what treasure it has lost. There are times he rants. It’s an obscure corner of the graveyard, no houses nearby, and if any demons or vamps hear him they take good care to stay away. He is pissed off with the universe for taking her, with himself for failing her, with her for leaping. He spends hours working out what he should have done instead: stabbing the little wanker comes first on the list, closely followed by heroics involving swinging kicks, dives into tackles that would take both of them over the edge, acrobatic flips that would have got him safely to the little Bit to guard her with his body. His sodding, useless body that failed him and her, and Her at the first challenge. So he wasn’t there to stop her jumping, wasn’t there to stop her needing to jump.

So what if it was to save the bloody world? His loss is unbearable.

Bear it he must. He made a promise to a lady and he will keep it till he bursts into flames or crumbles to dust. So every morning as light tints the eastern sky and his vampire senses recognise the return of day he pushes himself upright, bids her farewell and stumbles to his crypt. He lies there with the dead. But not his dead. She is elsewhere and he is alone.


End file.
